Others use the sites to counter rumors that fester on message boards and in chat rooms.

In a 2011 interview, Betty White stated that she often served as a beard to Liberace to counter rumors of his homosexuality.

Mr. Bush sought to counter rumors of tensions with Mr. Maliki, calling him "the right guy for Iraq" while emphasizing his role as the leader of a sovereign nation.

During dinner, Mr. Champalimaud was forced to counter rumors that the party was redundant.

Taylor ordered an autopsy to counter rumors that Dogolea was killed.

To counter ugly rumors, VV marries Louise Adamson while Bel elopes with an American to Soviet Russia.

I.B.M. sought last month to counter rumors that its PS/2 line was not well received by businesses, reporting that it had shipped 250,000 units of the new series.

To counter rumors that Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States, the Obama campaign previously posted an image of his short-form birth certificate online.

Powerful local committees in Kano have not fully agreed with Mr. Shekarau and supporters of the polio vaccine have not countered rumors in the region about its dangers.

AZCPA formed a pro-Israel lobbying committee to counter rumors that the Eisenhower administration was going to investigate the American Zionist Council.